


first impressions are(nt) everything

by pettytooru



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst??, Eventual relationship, Happy Ending, Keith has anger management issues, M/M, Pining, Slow Burn, Slow Updates, and dead parent issues, but long chapters so im forgiven, coran features here and there, keith is gay, klance, lance is bi, pidge is nonbinary, quite a bit of cursing, there'll be some fluff somewhere or other, they're both stupid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-08-10 21:26:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7861690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pettytooru/pseuds/pettytooru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a bad first impression of Lance, Keith was sure that he wouldn't want to talk to him any more than he was required to. </p>
<p>That was, until, he realized that there was more to him than a cocky personality and a disastrous attitude.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>     - alternatively;;<br/>The angsty university fic which nobody knew they needed until now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Keith grimaced as the bus screeched to a halt, waking him up instantly. Laughter and shouting could be heard as other students filed out of the vehicle, many of them holding suitcases and pillows as they spoke to their friends or parents. Keith had come to his first day of university with neither; his foster parents had sent him away on the bus by himself. They weren't bad people, Keith's guardians, they just weren't exactly close with the boy - it wasn't their fault that Keith had turned out to be so troublesome and uncooperative as he was growing up. Keith deemed it to be a miracle that they even let him stick around, despite how many times he was sent home from school for getting into fights and what not. 

As the last of the students climbed off the bus, he began gathering his things and making his way out slowly, mumbling a quiet 'thanks' to the bus driver as he lifted his small, black suitcase onto the concrete floor. His university was a cluster of grand buildings, with a vast lake stretching through the middle of it with wide stretches of green grass accompanying it, benches scattered effortlessly with students sitting on them, peacefully studying. It was as though it was straight out of a movie, it was just too perfect for Keith to even fathom. His mouth hung agape as he made his way over a large, wooden bridge which led to the apartments. 

There were four different blocks of apartments (compulsive to the students throughout their first two years, then they could get off campus apartments in their third - but most couldn't afford that anyway); the most affordable one was called Galra - it held eight people to an apartment, they all shared a single bathroom and one kitchen, it was painted a disgusting shade of purple which people apparently got sick of very quickly. The most expensive one was called Altea - It also held eight to an apartment, yet each room was fitted with it's own bathroom and the kitchen consisted of two fridges and the food already stocked; it was the newest block, and everyone wanted to be staying there. Fortunately, Keith was one of those people. His foster parents were far from poor, and decided it might help Keith settle down if he lived in a nice environment.

There was a lot of petty judgement throughout the university - which was to be expected. People got judged on which apartment block they lived in, so most kept it a secret (unless they were lucky enough to live in Altea). This judgement tended to die down by the second year, as the stress started to give everyone a common enemy, so most people got along easier. However, Keith still had to get through his first year before he could be on the same wave length as everybody else his age. 

Hastily, he made his way up the stairs of the apartment which he had soon to make his home for the next few years. He hesitated and took in a sharp intake of breath before swinging the door open. Just as he was about to take another step inside, he felt his body being thrown off balance and a gasp escape his lips. The rude stranger who had bumped into him ran out of the door before Keith could even get a proper look at him, let alone apologize. A scoff escaped the boy, as he held onto his suitcase and pushed himself off of the ground.

"Oh man, are you alright?" A large boy clad in a bright yellow t-shirt and cargo pants rushed towards him, just as dusting down his jeans. "Sorry about my buddy, he was late for his date with a girl he met like, ten minutes ago." Keith wasn't used to much interaction with strangers, except the numerous times he had managed to get himself into fights on the street. 

"Don't worry about it." The boy mumbled, clearly uncomfortable. He started playing with the knitted sleeves of his red and black flannel shirt which was tied tightly around his waste. 

"Oh, are you moving in here?" The stranger continued, looking down at Keith's suitcase before looking back at his face. "What room are you?" 

"Room..." Keith paused, pulling a small scrap piece of paper from his back pocket and looking at it closely. "Fourteen."

"Dude! No way, we are neighbors! We are on the next floor, i'll show you." The two boys made their way up a tight fleet of stairs, Keith carrying his suitcase in his arms with ease.

"I'm Hunk by the way."

"Keith."

"Nice to meet you, Keith. And here we are, you're future home! Call me if you need anything, I'm room thirteen." And with that, Keith was left alone in the corridor as Hunk made his way back down the stairs, humming to himself. The corridor wasn't too vast, yet there seemed to be quite a lot of space between the doors. With a shrug, Keith pulled his new keys from his back pocket and carefully turned them in the lock, the door making a satisfying 'click' as he entered. He was left in awe once again, immediately making a mental note to thank his foster parents for buying him the room.

Directly to his left was a desk running all the way along one side of the wall; empty shelves and a white board hung up above it. In the left hand corner of the room sat his bed; it was slightly bigger than the single bed which he had at home, whilst remained too small to be classed as a double bed. At the end of the bed sat a small unit, most likely meant for storing blankets and such - or in a students eyes, alcohol. Next to the wardrobe (which was fitted inside the wall) was yet another door which lead to the bathroom. The bathroom wasn't massive, but was well decorated and he was so thankful that he wouldn't be sharing it with anyone else. After unpacking his limited supply of clothes (mostly consisting of black t-shirts, flannel shirts, black skinny jeans and a leather jacket or two) and piling his textbooks onto the desks, Keith flopped carelessly onto his bed. A content sigh escaping his lips. 

He decided he could live with this, even if it meant putting up with an overly-friendly neighbor and hours worth of school-related stress. 

Unaware he had drifted off to sleep, Keith was awoken abruptly by a banging on his door. A groan escaped his lips as he sat himself into a sitting position before dragging himself across his room to the door. Hunk stood on the other side, a smile spread across his lips.

"Hey, everyone in the flat is meeting each other downstairs - we are all gonna head to the main bar on campus later, do you wanna come?" Keith debated it for a moment. He had never exactly been invited somewhere by someone who was willing to put up with him, so the offer sounded inviting. Yet, it was the boy's first day at his new university - did he really want to wake up for his first classes the following day with a hangover?

"Sure." 

"Nice! You should meet some of my friends, they're pretty cool." Hunk exclaimed, signalling Keith to follow him down the stairs. He locked his door and stuffed his keys back into his pocket before catching up to the other boy, who had began explaining how there was two really popular bars on campus, a coffee shop and a small convenience store (all of which were open for students to apply to work for to earn some money towards the massive debt which they were all in) - of course, Keith knew all of this, since he had a) visited on the open days and b) read about it on the website many, many times. As if he would survive in a university where coffee wasn't constantly available to him. He wasn't stupid.

Altea's common room was buzzing with atmosphere, around twenty people lounged around together in small groups. Hunk gestured at Keith to follow him, as he made his way to the back of the room where a small group of people stood - all laughing together. 

"Hey guys! This is Keith, he lives next door to me and looks kinda like a lost puppy." The larger boy exclaimed, entering the small group with Keith in tow. Stood there was a diverse group of people; a tall muscular boy stood above the rest of them, his right arm replaced with a prosthetic one and a small scar across his nose. He would've been intimidating, if not for the wide smile which he wore upon his relaxed face. Next to him stood a much shorter person, a green hoodie hanging loosely on their small body frame and a large pair of glasses set upon their upturned nose. Then there was a reasonably tall girl, with dark skin much like Hunk's. A white blazer was hung over her shoulders, with a floral jumpsuit underneath. Then finally, his eyes landed on a tall, slightly lanky Latino boy. His hair was a warm brown color, slightly darker than his skin. His thin, yet muscular, legs were covered by tight denim skinny jeans, accompanied by a white shirt with the word 'VOLTRON' printed across the front in large, block letters along with the number fourteen. What made him much more endearing than the rest of him was his eyes, though; they were an extremely light shade of blue, they seemed to almost glow in the light. They contrasted massively to his skin color, complementing each of his facial features perfectly.

"Hey! You're that kid from earlier who made me late for my date!" The stranger exclaimed, pointing a finger straight in Keith's direction. This snapped him out of his gaze and brought him back to reality. Even though the other boy was talking quite loudly, nobody else in the room seemed phased by the sudden outburst.

"Lance." Hunk sighed, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm like, ninety nine percent sure that you were the one who ran into him."

"Hunk, back me up!" Lance whined.

"Dude, stop trying to start a fight!"

"Nah, I don't trust this guy's mullet. Who even still has those anyway?" 

The two boys continued talking as thought Keith wasn't there, and he let a sigh escape his lips. For a few moments he just awkwardly looked around the room, wondering when everyone was going to leave. He really needed some alcohol in his system.

"Hey, Keith right? I'm Shiro." The tallest boy's voice caught Keith's attention, and he spun around to face him. "Sorry about Lance, he's always like that." A quiet chuckle left his lips as he scratched the back of his neck. 

"There it is." The smallest one joined the conversation. "The disappointed dad look, that's number... Four today!" Shiro sighed before turning to his friend.

"Pidge, I'm not a dad." 

"There it is again! Double whammy. Allura, add another one to the tally." The taller girl pulled a beige colored notebook from her purse, and scribbled another couple of lines on the first page. The whole interaction was rather amusing, and Keith found himself with a small smile on his face by the end of it. Maybe one of the first genuine ones in years. 

After another hour or so of chatting (Keith actually managed to partake in a conversation with multiple people, successfully at least) the large huddle of students began making their way down to the bar. When they arrived, it was declared by the bar tender that all drinks would be free as it was the first night. This was not going to end well. At around eleven at night, the bar stopped letting people in, as it had become too crowded. Luckily, the group had claimed a large table before many more people arrived, however, the downside was that they had been there since around five o'clock. Drinking. 

They must have looked ridiculous to any sober person, all huddled together with their elbows on the table, leaning in close to each other and talking way louder than they should've been considering the minimal distance which separated them all - but luckily, everyone else in the bar was as tipsy as them so nobody took any notice. Keith felt a lot more relaxed after a couple of shots, followed by a few beers- the only thing better than alcohol, was free alcohol. He had learnt a lot of useless information about the group that night; Hunk couldn't drink coffee without at least three spoonful's of sugar in it, Pidge was a massive nerd for conspiracy theories (they talked to Keith for at least ten minutes straight about how alien's definitely existed, and how Nasa were obviously being paid or even forced to cover their tracks), Allura had an undeniable love for cinnamon rolls and other sweet pastries, Shiro's hair had one white patch in it due to a prank which the others had done originally to make him look like a skunk - It went completely wrong because none of them had ever dyed their hair (apart from Allura, but she claimed to have not been a part of it) and none of them realized that it was permanent hair dye, rather than the bad quality wash-out stuff which they had intended on buying. Luckily, Shiro didn't mind his new hairstyle and decided on leaving it. Finally, Keith concluded; Lance was an asshole. From his cocky demeanor to his straight up appalling puns, Keith was already sick of him. He soon caught on to the fact that the boy was also a massive flirt, an undeniably good one at that. He hit on every single waiter and waitress which had cleaned up the empty glasses on the table, each one laughing with tinted red cheeks before hurrying away. This just made Keith's blood boil. 

He probably would've grown to deal with the boy, if he hadn't been for the amount of petty, childish comments which he had continuously thrown Keith's way. It started off with mullet jokes, but then escalated to jokes about his fashion sense and his accent. Keith had grown up with his parents in a Korean-speaking part of Japan, but he was moved to the States when he was eleven after his parents died. This left Keith as a young child in a foreign country, no real family and no knowledge of the language which was annually spoken. Even though he had eventually become fluent in the language, his pronunciation still occasionally let pieces of his first language's accent slip. Lance laughed at him every time it happened, but the smile on his lips was genuine, so eventually Keith let it slide. 

As Keith leaned back in his chair, he let his unclear drunken thoughts dance around his head. His cheeks were flushed a light red and a small smile played upon his lips as his newly found friends spoke and laughed together.

Maybe University wasn't going to be too bad after all, he concluded; shortly before passing out with his head on the table.

Keith hissed as he was awoken by a bright light shining directly on his face, causing his pulsing headache to multiply and his stomach to twist in pain. Various curses slipped through his lips as he slowly sat up. Immediately regretting agreeing to Hunk's invitation from the previous day, as he began feeling nauseous. He only just made it to the bathroom in time before vomiting in the toilet. He decided that he needed to freshen up, and took a shower before taking some medication which he thanked himself silently for packing. Slipping on a new t-shirt and pair of jeans, he grabbed his books and made his way out of his room, headache still present as he slowly walked out of the building's front door.

Since the campus was so vast, he had a reasonably long walk ahead of him. Luckily, most students had also been out drinking the previous night to he saw no more than three or four people as he made his way alongside of the lake. He truly was blessed with such gorgeous scenery. It inspired him to write and made him feel in a constant, creative mood. Keith was an English major, alongside studying physics and social studies. His first class was physics, and he was only about ten minutes late to the lecture - however, most seats in the hall were already occupied. Apart from one, which of course was next to the last person he would want to sit with. Lance. The other boy didn't seem to notice Keith's presence as he entered the hall, he was busy with his head resting lazily on his hand whilst the other scribbled down notes. He was sat quite far back, conveniently with the isle seat to his left free. After a moment of hesitation, Keith climbed up the seat and sat down next to Lance. The other boy was clad in his usual white team shirt which he had worn the previous day, a green cargo jacket hung over the back of his seat. He heard Lance let out a quiet groan as he glanced at him, but soon resumed his original position, intently listening to the teacher standing before them in front of a large projector screen. Keith pulled out his blue notepad titled 'Physics' and turned to the first page. Hastily catching up with what the teacher had previously been explaining. 

The lecture continued like that for another hour and a half, and Keith's palm had turned a dark red from constantly scribbling down notes. He frowned as he stared down as his hand, wondering how long it would be before it stopped aching.

"Hey, can you stop staring at your hand like it just deeply offended you? You should probably pack up your things, everyone's about to leave." Lance huffed, as he shoved his own books into his galaxy back-pack. Keith lowered his hand sheepishly and pulled his own bag onto his lap, piling his books into it before swinging it onto his back as he stood up. Students hastily made their way out of the study hall, and Keith was surprised that he had managed to stay close to Lance as he eventually left the building. Lance let out an exaggerated sigh, fully aware of the fact he was still accompanied by Keith. 

"Man, I didn't understand any of that." He whined. Keith was surprised that Lance was actually trying to somewhat talk to him. Even though they had known each other for just under two days, Lance had established that they were 'enemies' and the previous night they had taken part in a drinking competition. Lance, surprisingly enough, had won despite him not being able to take his drink very well, which ended up with him spending quite some time in the bathroom throughout the night. Now Keith realized that they were officially on an ongoing competition, and he decided he would play along with it.

"That was easy." Keith retorted; he was fully aware that it was, in fact, not easy at all, but he prided himself in understanding most of it. 

"Oh, shut up Keith." He spat, emphasizing his name as though it were an insult in itself. Keith just kept walking with a smirk on his lips.

Not much more was said, but the silence between them turned out to be a somewhat comforting one. Eventually, Lance spotted who Keith assumed was a member of whatever team he was on, and ran over to them shouting. On the back of his shirt the same number 'fourteen' was displayed, but instead of the word VOLTRON, it said SANCHEZ - which he assumed was Lance's last name. With a content sigh, Keith headed towards the campus coffee shop, desperately in need of a black coffee before he headed on to his next lesson.

 

The rest of the day went reasonably quickly; he had an introductory lecture for each of his subjects and then a free period at the end of the day. He dragged his feet across campus back to Altea. The only downside of living in the newest student housing was that it was fairly secluded compared to the others - so he had a long walk no matter where his lesson had been. He was grateful that the weather was still warm, as he was dreading walking that far in the colder months. 

As he locked the door to his room behind him, Keith unpacked his notes on his bed and began to study them - making sure he fully understood what he was getting himself into. He had left his window wide open as his room was boiling and he totally forgot to bring a portable fan with him (he had other things to buy to decorate his room, such as posters and ornaments - he wrote everything he needed down on his whiteboard) and as he was going to write a note down, he saw it. 

A massive, god damn, wasp.

If it had been a bee or another type of flying insect, Keith would've been fine, but unfortunately it wasn't. It was the only insect which Keith was deathly allergic to and one that he was absolutely terrified of. He covered his mouth, eyes wide as he backed slowly towards his door. The wasp wasn't even trying to get back outside, it was angrily buzzing towards the boy instead. Keith screamed grabbing the door handle and shut it firmly behind him, sliding down next to it as he took a deep breath. The noise of the door slamming must have been quite loud, as Hunk had peeped his head out of his room at the commotion.

"Keith, what happened?" He questioned, fully exiting his room to stand by him. 

"There's a massive fucking wasp in my room, man." Keith groaned, disgust sprawled along his features. Hunk replied with a soft chuckle.

"Dude, I totally forgot to warn you! Don't leave your window open unless you want your room to become a hang out place for animals - there are so many of them on campus." 

"Damn." Keith sighed. "It's so hot in there and I don't have a fan yet." 

"You could come study in my room! I have one and it's really good." Hunk smiled, offering Keith a hand as he pulled himself up from where he had sat on the floor.

"I might just take you up on that offer." Keith said, hesitating as he went to walk back into his room, he had almost forgotten about the wasp and what the consequences would be if he got stung. He didn't want to re-live the high school incident. He shivered at the memory.

"I'm allergic to wasps." He continued. "Would you mind grabbing my work off of my bed for me?" Hunk replied with a nod and entered the other boy's room, returning with a bag full of books a minute later. 

Hunk's room was set up exactly the same as Keith's, yet seemed so much more welcoming. Polaroid pictures and various photo-booth pictures scattered the walls, many of them showed Lance and Hunk at different stages of their lives - Keith concluded that they were childhood friends. His shelves were already full of various items, including medals, awards and even a miniature vending machine filled with chocolates and drinks. His desk had a white laptop neatly sat on it, open with words filling the screen, with a speaker sitting next to it quietly playing what sounded like The Beatles. Keith was surprised at how fast Hunk had managed to make his room feel so familiar in just two days.

"Your room is amazing." 

"I spent like, I don't know, four hours decorating it last night? It looks just like my bedroom at home." He sighed, seating himself in front of his laptop and continuing to type at a fast pace. "Sit wherever you want to, make yourself comfy." Keith nodded and took a seat on the large beanbag which was next to Hunk's bed, he immediately sunk into it and felt much more relaxed than he had in his own room. He was no longer sweating as there was a fan a couple of feet away from him, blowing his hair gently every time it turned to face him.

The two boys studied together for hours, neither speaking but listening to the old music which Hunk's speaker played instead. Every so often, Keith would catch the other boy quietly humming to a song, and he found it more comforting than annoying. He hoped this would become a regular thing, as he had gotten a lot of work done as he had added to his notes and familiarized himself with each of his subjects. 

Just as he had finished the last of his work, shouting and knocking could be heard on the other side of Hunk's door. The boy sighed knowingly, swinging the door open to reveal none other than Lance. His large smile turned into a frown as he spotted Keith in his friend's room. A groan escaped his lips and he pouted as he turned to his friend. 

"Why is he here?"

"We were studying together."

"I swear, that kid is everywhere I am!" Lance turned his attention to Keith. "Are you following me?"

"Dude, I literally live next door - I don't know why you're surprised to see me." Lance replied with another loud groan and just seated himself on Hunk's bed.

"Well, anyway, I'm here because we are all going to a restaurant off campus and we want Hunk to come."

"Wasn't Keith invited too?"

"Nope." Lance quickly replied, popping the 'p' as he said it.

"That's a lie, let me call them." Hunk pulled his phone out of his pocket and began to scroll through his contacts, but was cut off by Lance before he could click on anyone's name.

"Wait!" He launched himself at the bigger boy. "Alright, alright they said to invite Keith." 

Keith found himself being somewhat hurt by the fact Lance didn't want him there, he obviously disliked him enough to lie. He had thought that their 'enemies' act was purely a joke, but he never realized that it was apparently serious. He found himself disappointed that Lance didn't like him, but it was soon replaced with anger as he didn't understand what he had even done to make him act like such an asshole? Keith had been there for two days. He couldn't recall a single moment that he had genuinely upset Lance enough to make him dislike him. 

He huffed as he glared at the boy standing next to Hunk. Lance was scolded for being mean by the friendlier boy, but he still shot daggers at Keith every time they were within a few feet of each other.

Soon after, Keith and Hunk had packed up their bags and they were all heading out of Altea and towards the main exit at the front of the university. Students weren't required to stay on campus at all times, but the front gates were locked at midnight so the students had to be home before then unless they planned otherwise. The three met up with Pidge and Allura by the gates, informing Keith that since Shiro was a third year he lived off campus and in a flat nearby. 

The university was along the outskirts of a busy town, so they all got a taxi to the center and met Shiro by a small park surrounded by shops. It was around seven o'clock, and the streets were bustling with family's and couples. The queue for a fancy Italian restaurant stretched far out of the door and down the street, Keith grimaced as he wondered how long it would be until they actually ate. 

"Don't worry, we aren't going anywhere popular." Shiro leaned over, catching Keith's attention as he spoke, it was almost as if he could tell what Keith was thinking judging by the expression on his face. Maybe it was the way that he nervously played with the ends of his t-shirt when he was deep in thought or feeling anxious that gave it away. Keith had always had this habit, ever since he began living in America. In class teachers would often think he was playing on his phone as he stared down at his lap and wrapped his fingers around his shirt. 

The others lead Keith out of the centre, passing through alleyways lined with a variety of small stalls, each having their own personality and aura to them. Ever since he had moved away from his home country, Keith had lived in a bustling, vast city with his foster parents. The reason they were so wealthy was because Lauren, his foster mother, had owned a large company which manufactured instruments which were sold worldwide - mainly used by famous musicians. Due to this, they had lived in a large apartment which was central - so they heard the constant sounds of traffic and shouting all around the clock. The sudden change of scenery had been a shock to Keith; he wasn't used to the silent nights or the fact that he could actually watch the stars from his bedroom window as he fell asleep, and he certainly wasn't used to the old fashioned buildings or the sweet alleyways, or the way people had treated each other kindly. It reminded him dearly of his home, back in Japan. He hadn't lived near a city - his parents weren't struggling for money, yet they had enough to be comfortable. He had lived in a village about two miles away from a town, which was about the same size as the one he had been in that night. He felt relaxed as he followed his new friends, smiling to himself as he watched them mess around together. He had accepted how he wasn't at the level of closeness with them as they were with each other, which was understandable as they had only just met, so he didn't get upset if he couldn't keep up with the conversation. Keith was just happy that finally he had people to consider friends.

Eventually, the group came to a halt outside a diner. The sign was barely holding together, and one of the windows had been replaced by a strip of cardboard which had been taped to the frame. They had lead Keith through an alleyway - barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side in - and ended up outside the building. Keith tried to hide his disappointment as he looked at it, but Shiro, once again, leaned close to him for reassurance.

"It's nicer inside, trust me." Keith was hesitant, but ended up nodding and following the others in.

 

Keith had officially lost all faith, hope and trust in Shiro. 

As he stepped into the diner, the inside mirrored the state of the outside. The paint on the walls was chipped, the once bright neon signs were dim and there was about three other people in there, lazily sipping on their shakes. A dim expression consumed Keith's features, and he glanced down at his shoes, playing nervously with his shirt once again. In that moment, he had regretted coming anywhere with them. That soon changed when a friendly looking waitress wandered over to them, black hair scraped tightly back into a bun and her dark, plump lips pulled into a genuine smile. Her name tag read 'Lina'.

"Hey guys, usual table?" She questioned, winking at Lance who returned the gesture casually, causing the rest of them to groan in unison.

"Yes please." Allura said, pushing Lance out of the way. Lina turned on her heel and gestured for them to follow her. They headed through another set of doors at the back of the restaurant and down a set of stairs, leaving Keith extremely confused as to where exactly they were going. She swung open a set of double doors at the bottom of the staircase and suddenly Keith understood why the others enjoyed going there.

A whole new room was revealed; the lights were dim and candles were scattered along the round wooden tables which were placed neatly around the room. The chairs had been replaced with small barrels which people sat on as they laughed and drank, as music played in the background. Keith was awestruck as he took in his surroundings, he noticed how the basement was much busier than the room upstairs - groups of students and young adults perched along a bar which was in the far corner of the room, all talking together casually. 

Apparently, the group had ended up there one night after clubbing in town. Pidge had fancied a milkshake, and had dragged them into the first diner they had seen - only to be led downstairs by Lina, after Lance had flirted with her shamelessly - they had instantly fallen in love with the place, and went there weekly. Keith realized how lucky he was to be there, instantly welcomed by the group and already he had gone to their favorite bar with them. They sat down at a large table, each of them ordering a soft drink to start the night off or, in Keith's case, a Vodka and lemonade. It wasn't that he was a heavy drinker, but he enjoyed how much more relaxed he felt when he was drunk. His attitude had worsened after moving away from Japan, leaving him tense and in a sour mood when he was with large groups of people. People had asked him if he had an anger problem, to which he just shrugged - he didn't particularly want to find out, so he never bothered to get help about it. His shoulders loosened as he downed the alcoholic beverage, his brain already feeling fuzzy and warm. At first, the group were surprised at how he had bought a vodka straight away, especially bearing in mind he was still feeling the effects of his hangover after the day before, but they soon understood why as he began talking and laughing more. He wasn't crazy drunk, but drunk enough that he didn't think much about what people thought of him in that moment, probably leaving him with a few minor regrets in the morning - but he deemed it worth it. 

"Aw, my sister just texted me." Lance said as he pulled out his phone, showing the rest of the table the picture. It showed a large group of people, all of which had similar features to the boy holding the phone with a smile on his face. That was one of the first times which Lance had shown a genuine, sweet smile whilst near Keith, and he was surprised at how soft his features looked. Maybe it was because of the lighting in the room that made his usually angled nose look rounder, his eyebrows were relaxed and his eyes crinkled in the corners - it was the first time that Keith had thought that he didn't seem that bad.

Maybe there was something more to Lance than a cocky personality and a disastrous attitude, he thought, immediately taking it back after Lance spoke again.

"Stop fucking staring at me, Mullet kid." 

Keith decided to give up all hope of ever finding out more about Lance, because quite frankly, he didn't want to. He concluded that a cocky personality and a disastrous attitude was all that he was, and he had just gotten the answer first handed. In reply, Keith groaned and snapped back - unable to stop himself in his drunken state.

"What is your problem? I've known you for two fucking days, and you're being such an asshole. I haven't even done anything wrong!" He hissed, his thoughts making their way out of his mouth. The rest of the group were left somewhat stunned - they hadn't yet learned about Keith's short temper and his reckless tendency to get into fights with people, all they knew of him was that he was quiet and could roast Lance if he ever said something to annoy him. Lance was lost for words, his eyebrows knitted together tightly as he thought of a response - which just proved Keith right. He had no valid reason to dislike him, which lead Keith to believe he wasn't the only one who ended up getting into a lot of fights.

"You're just so-- infuriating?" Lance somewhat questioned, standing up and heading back to the bar to get more drinks. Pidge whistled under their breath. Keith still had a scowl on his face as the other boy returned, managing to hold enough beers in his hands for everyone around the table, excluding Keith of course, who occasionally sipped on his second glass of Vodka. Soon enough, the awkward mood passed and everyone began talking again, resuming their conversations. Keith sat back, hands covering his face. Alcohol either relaxed him, or had the opposite effect. It didn't tend to happen often, as he didn't drink in environments where he was likely to get angry, but that was exactly what had happened. He was silently fuming, not looking at anyone to avoid snapping at them. After an unsuccessful few minutes of trying to calm down, he excused himself and headed to the restroom. The rest of the group, including Lance, had gotten over Keith's outburst and were left confused as he walked away from the table.

"Is Keith alright?" Pidge questioned, nodding their head towards the boy who had just gone into the bathroom. 

"Probably just taking a piss." Lance shrugged, downing the last of his beer. 

"I don't know man, he looked pretty worked up." Hunk considered, a pout forming on his face.

"Yeah, Lance, he seemed upset." Shiro added, Allura nodding in agreement. 

"What do you want me to do about it? Sheesh." Lance huffed, slamming his glass on the table.

"Apologize, dumbass." Pidge said, rolling their eyes in the progress.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was dealing with such a sensitive prick when I spoke the truth!" Lance retorted, leaning back in his chair.

"Not to me, idiot, to Keith. Go and find him." Hunk had to stop himself from snickering at Lance's immaturity; he had always been the same, but Hunk knew there was more to Lance than that. With a final huff, the boy stood up and stormed towards the bathroom.

"Keith." He sung, swinging the door open. He immediately stopped when he saw the boy in front of him. Hands gripping tightly to the sink, knuckles turning white and hair fallen in front of his face which was dripping with water; Keith was biting his lip so hard that blood was threatening to spill and his eyes were clamped shut. 

"Keith?" Lance quietly questioned, not daring to take another step forwards. He found himself intimidated by the other boy, yet worried. Keith shook his head in response, not daring to say a word. The boy knew that he would regret anything he would've said to Lance, as he was unable to control his mouth when he spoke whilst drunk. The way Keith was acting reminded Lance of a close family member. He thought back to when he was younger, calling his Aunt's name whilst she stood there, shaking with anger. She had snapped at the younger boy, refraining herself from coming any closer to him. Shortly after, his Mother had arrived home, approaching his Aunt with caution before calming her down and hugging her. His Aunt was later diagnosed with an anger management problem - but his large family had all helped her deal with it, making sure that she never suffered in tense situations. 

Lance had totally forgotten about approaching people with caution. His mind was so set on annoying Keith that the thought that he might have had something wrong with him had never crossed his mind, that's when it clicked that maybe the reason Keith had trouble talking with big groups of people was because he'd never had a big group to talk with. He cursed himself for his reckless behavior and knew that his Mother wouldn't have been impressed by the way he had acted; he vowed to tone his bad attitude down.  
He decided that he was going to hold back on the comments (for now) and actually try to help the trembling boy in front of him.

Keith half expected Lance to come out with some immature comment, or something dumb like "Did I upset you?" or "Are you okay?" but instead was left shocked when Lance spoke again.

"I'm sorry for being such a dickhead, I took it too far and it's totally reasonable for you to be mad at me." 

That was the first time Keith's mood hadn't been worsened after Lance opened his mouth to speak, instead it had the opposite effect. His grip on the sink loosened, he opened his eyes but stared straight down rand not looking at the other boy. 

"Ok." He choked out, stopping himself from snapping at Lance again. His anger was still bubbling through his body, but he had managed to calm down at least a small amount. It wasn't unusual for Keith to feel like this, but he used to have a punching bag in his room to avoid damaging any ornaments in his foster home - normally he de-stressed by punching something, or in some cases, someone. Keith hated his inability to control himself when he was angry, which just left him more frustrated. 

After a few more minutes, Keith found himself cooling down, and was finally able to have a civil conversation again without snapping - this was most likely due to the fact that the effects of the alcohol were wearing off, and he had more control over his actions again. Lance was still standing in the bathroom, with the intention of making sure that Keith didn't do anything stupid, like break a mirror or punch a wall in anger (he really didn't want to get banned from his favorite bar).

"Sorry you had to see me like that." Keith mumbled, finally looking up to meet Lance's eyes. He expected Keith to just walk out and totally avoid him, but was surprised to see his eyes full of regret. He knew that people with anger problems had a tendency to snap and hurt people, but it never crossed his mind that they most likely regretted it afterwards. 

"Don't worry about it." Lance shrugged, realizing that Keith didn't want to make a big deal out of it.

"Can you not tell the others about my..." Keith paused, confusion written across his face. "Outbursts?" He somewhat questioned, unsure of how to describe his actions. Lance soon deducted that Keith had never come to terms with his problems, and hadn't discussed them with anyone. Why didn't he talk to his Parents or his siblings? Lance thought, but decided not to ask as it was obviously a personal matter and they weren't close. That's when he was reminded that he wasn't supposed to like Keith, the boy whose face made Lance boil with rage every time he looked at him. He wasn't sure why exactly Keith frustrated him so much, he didn't know if it was his stupid haircut or the way he constantly had that vacant, tense look on his face. Maybe it was because he looked like an emo from 2005 who was trying his best to bring red flannel shirts and uncomfortably tight, black jeans back into fashion (although, Lance didn't deny that it did suit the other boy, and was slightly jealous that he could look good in something that most people couldn't pull off). 

"Sure." With that, they headed back to the table. The others sat there with raised eyebrows, asking them what took them so long. Lance was treading on uneven ground, but decided to answer with a harmless joke.

"Keith was taking a massive shit, it was gross." He teased, looking over to as Keith let out an accusing gasp, humor in his voice.

"And you stayed with him?" Pidge questioned, joining in with the joke and raising one of their eyebrows.

"That's what friends do." Lance laughed, patting Keith on the back teasingly. Keith wasn't sure when he had been officially upgraded to 'friendship' status with Lance, but he realized he didn't really have a choice after he had seen him have a low-key meltdown in the bathroom ten minutes earlier. The rest of the group seemed shocked at the statement, but soon got over it, assuming they had made up in the bathroom. 

The rest of the night played out smoothly, it was like the previous night; they all exchanged stories and information about themselves to one another, mostly for Keith's benefit, as he was still less familiar with the others - only that night, they weren't all drunk out of their minds, so they actually managed to talk sense instead of spouting random facts about themselves and embarrassing themselves. Occasionally, Lance would look at Keith, shooting him with a reassuring smile as if asking if he was alright. It was as if Lance was a whole new person, and Keith had taken back what he had thought earlier about wanting nothing to do with him.

Keith wanted to get to know Lance, he decided finally, this time his decision not clouded by alcohol or anger.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's more talking throughout this chapter rather than descriptions, so enjoy~
> 
> \-- also thankyou for all the positive feedback!! I hope you're all enjoying the story so far :)

For the following week or so, Keith didn't meet up with the group. The only interaction which he had with any of them was flying visits as he saw Hunk most mornings on the way out of Altea. That was until he his phone began ringing at 4:49AM on a Thursday morning. Keith's, now slightly more decorated, room was pitch black apart from the piercing light of his phone as it buzzed, awaking the boy who had spent most of his night writing an essay which had been due the next day. His whole body ached as it was encased in a tired state, a groan escaped his lips as he reached for the source of the light which was sitting next to his bed.

"Hello?" He croaked, his voice deep and rough.

"Keith?" The voice replied, Keith immediately recognizing who it was.

"Lance? What do you want its..." Keith paused, looking at his phone screen. "5AM, we have school tomorrow." 

"I'm lost and that bitch left me here." Lance slurred, his voice drenched in alcohol. Keith sighed, immediately realizing that he was going to have to go and find the boy. He continued talking whilst making his way out of bed and across to his wardrobe, grabbing a shirt to wear with the baggy jogging bottoms which he was already wearing.

"Why didn't you call Hunk?" Keith said, grabbing his keys and his wallet and stuffing them into the pocket of the over sized black hoodie which he had flung on.

"Nobody else is picking up their phones, and plus, I thought we had a bonding moment! Why wouldn't I ring you? Please help me~." 

"Alright. Do you have any idea where you are?" Keith asked.

"I'm somewhere on campus."  
   
"Helpful." Keith mumbled. "What do you see?"

"I'm on a tree near the lake."

"On a tree?" 

"She tied me to a tree." Lance mumbled, obviously embarrassed. Keith held back a laugh, and decided to remember this for blackmail purposes.

"Okay, what buildings are you near?" 

"Well, we were going to the main bar, but she stole my cash and tied me to a tree." He sighed.

"Can you see the bar from where you are?"

"Yeah man, i'm like, on the other side of the river from the entrance." 

"Okay, i'm on my way." Keith hung up, shoving his phone into his pocket before he locked his door behind him. Lance was halfway across campus, so Keith decided he would run to get there faster. 

Lance was eventually greeted by a sweat-drenched Keith, hair tied back in a low ponytail and fringe clipped off his face by two red hair clips. He was clad in baggy sweatpants and a hoodie which was obviously too big for him. His eyes were tired and half-closed, yet he wore a smirk across his face as he crossed his arms over his waist after he saw the other boy's 'tragic' situation. Lance had to admit he pulled the look off surprisingly well. 

"Hey there, ponytail." He laughed, the alcohol had began to wear off after he had rung Keith around fifteen minutes earlier.

"Why did she tie you to a tree? What did you do that was so bad that she left you here?" Keith teased, earning a groan from Lance.

"I don't know! It was going so well! She was totally digging me, but she just stole my shit and left me!" He cried. His hands were tied together and around the tree by a cheap-looking skipping rope, his phone was in between them with Keith's contact number still on the screen. They had all exchanged numbers the previous week at the bar.

"Okay, okay. Where's your dorm?" 

"Man, just untie me and I can walk home by myself." 

"Dude, you're still kinda drunk you're probably gonna do something stupid."

"Fine. I live in Galra, if you laugh I swear I'm gonna push you in that lake." 

"How are you gonna do that with your hands tied to a tree?" Keith snickered, not really caring that Lance lived in the cheapest apartment block - he wasn't shallow unlike a lot of other people who lived in Altea. Although his 'neighbors' were mostly funny and always cleaned up after themselves, Keith had overheard some of them talking as though they were there to inspect the university, rather than live in it.

"Aren't you gonna untie me?" Lance paused. "C'mon, Keith, buddy, my man, don't you dare leave me here."

"I won't, don't sweat it." Keith assured, bending down next to Lance as he began untying his wrists from the tightly knotted rope. "I can't believe you got me up at 5AM to do this, you owe me."

"Isn't it all nice to spend time with such an amazing person like me at this hour?" Lance beamed, nudging Keith with his shoulder.

"Don't test me, I will change my mind and leave you here for people to find you later and laugh at you." 

"You would never." Lance dramatically gasped, his mouth hanging open with disbelief, earning a small chuckle from Keith.

After a few minutes of complaints from Lance and various swears as Keith struggled to untie the knot, he was finally free. Lance stood up, stretching his arms and clicking his neck and back. Keith stifled a yawn, shoulders slumped and body language dripping with exhaustion. The sun had began to rise and the sky was a baby blue color, the birds had began singing as some students had began dragging themselves across campus, barely noticing the two boys standing by the tree. Lance began walking in the direction of his room, gesturing Keith to follow. He was still buzzing with energy and a small amount of alcohol was obviously still lingering in his system. It only took them around 5 minutes to get to Lance's dorm; the upside to living in the cheapest, therefore oldest, buildings was that they were in the middle of campus, making them easy to get to from everywhere apart from the other dorms.

The rumors were true, Keith confirmed, as he stepped inside the Galra entrance. The purple walls were exhausting to look at, he couldn't bare to live there. The layout of the rooms were a lot more cramped than in Altea, and the kitchen door was next to the bathroom door which they all had to share; Keith shivered, not wanting to know how many people had used it in the last twenty four hours. Lance's room was around half of the size of Keith and Hunk's, a small bed to the left of the door and a desk a few feet away in the corner of the room. 

The walls were covered in pictures of constellations and posters of various space themed films (most of which were star wars), and a lamp which projected stars around the room was set on the desk. Along his desk also sat various picture frames - most of them were full of pictures of a large group of people, all with similar features as Lance. Keith could only assume that this was the boy's family, he wondered how it must've felt to grow up surrounded by so many people, but quickly looked away resisting the urge to pry into his business.

"So you like space, huh?" Keith asked, turning to Lance as he turned on the light. Keith was loitering in the doorway, looking around the room in awe.

"You could say that." Lance replied, kicking his trainers off and jumping onto his bed. Keith let out another yawn, rubbing at his eyes lazily. 

"Sorry for waking you up like that." Lance said, his expression genuine and his lips in a tight frown.

"It's all good, I have class in a few hours anyway." He sighed, getting ready to leave.

"We have our first class together don't we?" Lance questioned, sitting up in bed as though he had an amazing idea. 

"Yeah..." Keith answered, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"So just stay here, i'll stay up with you then we can go to class together!" Lance proposed, a smile on his face.

"But aren't you tired? You haven't slept all night." 

"Neither have you, by the looks of it. Did you seriously wait until the night before to write that essay that's due first period?" 

"Maybe." Keith mumbled, clearly ashamed.

"Then that settles it, just come and chill out with me." Lance concluded, standing up and walking towards the other boy. He dragged him farther into his room and locked the door behind them. Keith stood in the middle of the room looking bewildered by the whole situation, before Lance gestured for him to sit next to him on the bed. 

"So why do you love space so much?" Keith eventually questioned, deciding he had no choice but to stay. Lance smiled at the question, looking up at his posters with a gleam in his eye.

"It just has so many possibilities. There could be a whole other universe that we don't know about, so many different species and planets we haven't even discovered yet. It's crazy, everything out there makes me feel so insignificant yet so significant at the same time - like I'm alive to see these things, yet they're all so big compared to me. I would just love to explore all the stars and planets, but it's impossible since it's so big and we are just so small. It's so weird to think we are just one planet, and even though everything here just seems so big, the universe is just endless. It makes me think that maybe everything does have a purpose, like everything happens for a reason and that's why I have to accept that even though sometimes you get on my nerves, you're part of our group now because you were meant to be here, you know?" Lance continued. "I just love the idea of fate, it brings people together and totally gives me an excuse whenever I fail my exams - it's because I wasn't meant to pass the first time round. It's like in Men in Black 3, you know when that unicorn guy who can tell the future says things happen for a reason and if that dude 'K' hadn't left a tip for the waiter right at the end of the film the world would've been hit by a meteor? It's just so cool and so smart and I think about it a lot, that film means a lot to me because it's so sad yet so funny and Will Smith absolutely kills it. But anyway, I can't remember how we got from space to fate but I believe in both of them completely." He concluded, turning to look back at Keith, only to find the other boy with his head on Lance's shoulder and eyes closed, a small smile playing at his lips as he slept.

Lance sighed with content and pulled out his phone, playing on games to pass the time. It was 5:27AM and their class started at 8:00AM, but Lance was content on staying like that until he got ready. Keith's hair was still in a low ponytail, but pieces of his fringe had began to escape the clips and were hanging over his eyes. Quiet snores escaped his parted lips, a small amount of dribble began making its way down his chin. Lance would've been amused if not for the fact that the boy looked so undeniably cute in that position, but he soon pushed away those thoughts, reminding himself that Keith didn't seem like the dating type - he concluded that with his "outbursts" and his awkward, tense demeanor Keith had most likely struggled with holding many types of relationships, so he was probably not ready for a romantic one any time soon. 

Lance's phone alarm went off at 7:30, and he hastily turned it off before it could wake up Keith. He moved the other boy so that his head was resting on his pillow and went to grab his things to go shower. He and his flatmates had decided on times in which they would use the bathroom in the morning - Lance's time slot was 7:30-7:45, so he quickly got to the bathroom and left the door to his room unlocked. Around five minutes later, Keith sat up groggily and looked around the room in confusion. At first, he had no clue where he was and began to freak out - but soon he remembered how Lance had managed to get himself tied to a tree the other night before dragging him back to his room and then being convinced to stay there. Keith pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time; 7:42, class was due to start in just under twenty minutes. 

Lance soon walked back into his room, whistling happily with wet hair and a towel tied around his waste. Keith's eyes widened at the almost naked boy. He was surprised, as despite Lance's lanky, tall body he was somewhat toned around his arms and his stomach. Keith noticed how broad his shoulders really were and how the muscles in his arms tensed and moved as he sorted out his hair. He took a deep breathe, vowing himself to look away. It was the first time he registered how he actually thought Lance was somewhat attractive, but he immediately avoided thinking about it, turning his face the opposite way in hopes that Lance didn't see his flushed cheeks.

"Morning, ponytail." Keith groaned at his new nickname, he kept forgetting to take his hair out, but he concluded that it was most likely greasy since he hadn't showered yet so he kept it in. "Did you know you dribble when you sleep?"

"No I don't, shut up." Keith buried his face in his hands, still willing himself to fully wake up. "Fuck." He mumbled, realizing he couldn't turn up to class dressed in his current clothes, and he didn't plan on being seen like that on campus either. He had a reputation to keep up.

"What?" Lance questioned, cocking his head at the other boy's distress.

"I look like shit, I can't go to class wearing this." He grumbled, scowling.

"Don't worry, you can borrow some of my clothes." Lance shrugged, walking over to the cupboard which was underneath his desk. A smirk crossed his lips as he realized he could dress Keith in whatever he wanted. He hated how Keith had worn the same things every day, and he almost never wore colors, just dull blacks and grays. He pulled out his team shirt (Keith had learnt that he played basketball for the university's team 'VOLTRON') and a pair of his skinniest blue jeans, concluding that Keith would be more likely to appreciate them than his slightly baggier ones.

An obvious grimace was plastered on Keith's face as he took the clothes from Lance and began changing after Lance left to go and grab himself a drink from the kitchen; by the time he had returned, the other boy had finished changing. The shirt hung loosely on Keith's frame, as it was a few sizes too big for him. The trousers fit his legs nicely, but he had to roll them up several times on the bottom for them to fit length-wise. Lance decided offering his clothes was a very good idea, as he was happy he could bless everyone with the sight of Keith in bright colors rather than dull ones, and Lance's last name sprawled across his back. He soon realized that it was most likely that people would think that the two boys were together, but just shrugged it off, hoping Keith wouldn't mind either.

"I look ridiculous in this." Keith sighed, slipping his shoes on. They were about to quickly run back to Keith's dorm for a flying visit to grab his notes before heading to first period, which was set to start in ten minutes.

"You look fine." Lance replied as he locked his door, willing himself not to say how cute he looked, knowing it would most likely make the other boy uncomfortable. Keith just grunted in response, grabbing the other boy's wrist as they ran out of the building. They sprinted across campus, they ended up racing each other as they went. Keith won, sprinting up the stairs two at a time and basically slamming his key into his door. 

"haha! I won." Keith stuck his tongue out, acting as though he were a child. Lance just rolled his eyes, feeling like their personalities had been temporarily reversed. The sound of a door clicking next to them made Lance jump, but he was soon at ease as he realized it was just Hunk. Keith was already in his room as Hunk walked out to the corridor.

"Lance? What are you doing here?" Hunk questioned.

"Me and Keith are heading to our first class, he had to pick up his stuff first." Lance didn't even realize how bad that sounded, he had basically told Hunk that they had spent the night together. The other boy's eyebrows raised suggestively.

"Are you two?" Hunk questioned, a smirk playing at his lips.

"Don't say it, because the answer is no. He fell asleep in my room last night after rescuing me from a tree at 5am." Hunk tilted his head, obviously confused, Lance held up his hand before he could be questioned further. "It's a long story, but I swear there's nothing between us." Hunk just shrugged his shoulders in response.  
   
"Okay man." He said, heading back to his room, but pausing before he could reach the door. "By the way, tell Keith that all of us are going to a music festival next month, he is invited and so are you. Oh, and we are gonna get drinks tonight at our bar - you two better be there." Hunk said, shutting his door before he could even get an answer. Lance just nodded.

Keith hastily locked his door behind him, his bag on his back and his fringe now clipped back with no stray hairs hanging out. Water had obviously been splashed on his face and a flannel shirt hung loosely around his waste. It was 7:56, and they both had to sprint to get into class on time - let alone get a seat in the hall. Eventually they made it, only a few minutes late. Both of them were panting and soaked in sweat, but they hadn't missed any important parts of the lesson so it was okay. They handed in their essays and after more note taking they headed out, the two mumbling goodbyes as they headed separate ways. Keith had a free period, and decided he would spend it in the library revising his notes for the next class. 

The library was extremely vast, and he loved how the shelves were lined with a variety of books which were obviously newly written and books which were falling apart at the seams, ripped due to students reading them repeatedly. The room had a familiar smell, it reminded Keith a lot of his home. He wasn't sure how he remembered much of his house, but it was always full of books. His mother occasionally published books, and read them constantly in order to improve her English. Books would litter each room, they would be piled up on the floor or sitting on the window sill. His parents had eventually began using them as though they were tables and putting ornaments and glasses on them; they had truly became a part of their lives. When Keith had moved to America, there were little to no books in his new home. Everything was high tech, they had replaced books with computers and Keith hated it. In his home, they didn't want to have much technology, they had a reasonably priced TV and phones for emergencies, but apart from that they didn't need anything to keep them happy and amused. They all had each other.   
Keith vowed to spend more time in the library, and decided that he would one day try and find some of the books which his mother had loved to no end. 

As he sat down on one of the tables which was in the middle of the room, he noticed a familiar face sitting with their back to him on the table in front of his. Keith grabbed his bag and sat across from them.

"Hey Pidge." He said, setting his books along the table. The other looked at him from over their laptop, pushing their glasses up.

"Oh, hey Keith." They said, doing a double take and looking at Keith's shirt. "Is that Lance's shirt?" They smirked, eyebrows raised. Keith didn't think much of it, and answered casually.

"Yeah, I was late for class so I had to borrow his clothes." Keith said, already engrossed as he added to his notes.

"Okay." Pidge said, deciding to talk to Lance about it later.

The two sat in a comfortable silence for the next hour or so, all that was heard was the clicks of Pidge's keyboard as they hastily typed. As Keith was about to head off to third period, Pidge spoke again.

"I don't know if anyone told you yet, but we're all going out for drinks tonight. The usual place. We'll all get a taxi at seven-ish." 

"Alright." Keith said, surprised by the sudden plans but shrugging his shoulders eventually. They were a very laid back group, and sudden plans were common. The two exchanged goodbyes and Keith made his way back out of the library. His next lecture was due to start in just under ten minutes, so he started making his way across campus. He was sitting in social studies when the boy in front of him put his hand up, gaining the teachers attention. They were discussing marriage and how it affected the way people thought and the way they acted. Naturally, they got on to the subject of gay marriage and how it remained illegal in some countries across the world.

"But sir, don't you agree that it should still be illegal? Like it's gross and makes people uncomfortable, it shouldn't be allowed." A few murmurs could be heard throughout the room and Keith's eyes narrowed. The boy was wearing the same team shirt as Lance's (which Keith was wearing at the time) with the name 'ROLO' across the back. Keith couldn't believe that Lance had to put up with that ignorant asshole in games. Rolo often said offensive things throughout that class, Keith didn't know if he did it to gain attention, starts fights or just because he was an ignorant piece of shit. He concluded that it was most likely all of them combined.  The teacher looked at Rolo with a small frown on his face, he paused for a second, thinking about how to reply.

"Everyone has different opinions, Rolo, so watch what you say in my class. You might just be offending someone near you." He narrowed his eyes. He had been completely correct, as Rolo had already somewhat hurt Keith, and the boy was one stupid comment away from losing his temper.

"It's not my fault they're unnatural, they all think they're so cool just because they're different and I think it's just stupid and childish - why don't they just accept that every single one of them is living a lie." Rolo spat, the teacher was about to reply when Keith decided he had had enough. He stood up carelessly shoving his books into his bags and swinging it over his back. The whole hall had their eyes on him, but he didn't care. He stormed past the other students, shooting Rolo a deadly glare as he paused by the door.

"The only one living a lie here is you, due to the fact that you stuff socks down your pants to make it look like you have a dick as big as your pretentious fucking ego." And with that he slammed the door, leaving the teacher looking astonished, the class snickering and Rolo red in the face and eyebrows knotted together in anger. Keith didn't have time to bask in glory as he walked out of the building, as he was burning with anger and needed to get back to his room as soon as possible. He just needed some time to cool down.

Luckily, he avoided all contact with anyone as he slammed his door closed. He decided to skip fourth period and sat down on his bed. His anger was either displayed with physical violence, shouting or crying. Fortunately for him, he didn't cry regularly, however when he did, it lasted for hours. Which is exactly what happened.  
He laid facedown on his bed, clutching the pillow tightly in fists as he let the tears fall. Choked sobbed escaped his lips, muffled by the fabric. His arms were clutching at his knees as he moved so that he was laying on his side. He didn't even bother trying to stop the tears, the snot and the ugly gasps he did every time he tried to take a deep breathe. His hair hung over his face and his (Lance's) jeans had damp patches on them where the tears had collected.

Eventually, his grip on his legs had loosened and his eyes had closed. Quiet snores escaped his lips. He looked peaceful, despite his puffy, red eyes and tear stained cheeks. It was mostly due to his slightly parted lips and the way his body was sprawled across the bed, void of any signs of the aggravation which it had previously been consumed in. He didn't even wake up as the sounds of knocking filled the room, followed by the sound of the unlocked door being slowly opened.  
Pidge and Allura hung back in the corridor as Hunk and Lance walked into Keith's room. They were about to head out to the bar and hadn't heard anything from the boy, so decided to collect him from the place where he was most likely to be. Both of the boys were left confused at the sight, but Lance soon understood what must've happened. 

He knew that he was one of the only people who knew about Keith's problems, and he felt strangely privileged to know a small piece of him that nobody else knew. However, he wasn't happy with how he hid it - not having anyone to help calm him down or avoid arguing with him. It was only a matter of time before he had a fight with someone in the group, Lance concluded, not giving it any more thought as he stepped further into Keith's room.

"Keith?" Hunk gently whispered, following Lance's actions and taking another step.

"Keith, bud." Lance said, tapping the sleeping boy's arm. His body flinched at the sudden contact and a groan escaped his lips as his eyes lazily opened.

"What the fuck are you doing here." He grumbled, rubbing his eyes and looking momentarily surprised that his face was still damp with tears.

"We are going out and you're coming with us." Hunk said, earning another groan from Keith. 

"This isn't a choice, ponytail." Lance said with an accusing tone, hands on his hips. Earning a confused glance from Hunk at the new nickname.

"Let me get changed into something decent, first." Lance gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his heart.

"Are my beautiful clothes not good enough for you?" 

"The jeans don't fit, so i'm changing them." Keith shrugged, and Lance eventually nodded in approval - walking out of the room with Hunk to wait outside. It was around five minutes later when Keith followed, clad in black jeans rather than Lance's blue-denim ones. Lance couldn't help but frown at how tired Keith looked - he had started to regret calling Keith that morning, as the boy was obviously suffering from it; but Keith gave him a lazy smile of reassurance as he noticed Lance's expression.

With that, they all headed out of Altea and caught a taxi outside the front gates, heading to their usual place to meet Shiro. An hour later, they found themselves in their bar, sitting around the spot where they had sat two weeks previously. At first they all began discussing how their first few weeks of term were going; Shiro spoke about his flat and how he had new neighbors who would not stop listening to nickel-back remixes on repeat whilst they partied at the weekend, Pidge told everyone about how they were still finding their work reasonably easily (Shiro: "You just wait until your second year..."), Allura and Hunk had an extremely in depth conversation about flowers - completely losing the rest of them after they had began talking about the 'Kokai cookei', which they soon explained was a flower that was exclusive to Hawaii and nearly completely extinct. Before Lance could say a word, Keith decided he would tell them about the previous night's incident. All of them sat there laughing as he explained how Lance had looked so hopeless whilst he sat there tied to a tree, and he was terrified every time Keith threatened to leave him. Lance interjected into the story at various points, joining in on the banter as he laughed at his own failures. By the end of it, everyone had tears in their eyes from laughing so hard and it was around 10:00PM. 

The whole group were surprised at how well Lance and Keith were getting on, occasionally they would laugh about something that had happened in class or how the other had looked sleeping (Lance wouldn't stop teasing Keith about the dribble-incident) - the rest of them were all relieved that now all of the group got along with the newer boy, despite them still not knowing much about him. Although, Hunk knew Lance well, and could basically sense the way he looked at Keith when the other wasn't looking - subtly laughing at everything he said and having that constant grin plastered on his face. It was an obvious crush. 

Hunk was hardly surprised, Lance was always a sucker for crushes - they usually lasted for a few weeks, and if nothing happened (which they almost never did, because Lance was terrible at expressing his feelings) he would get over it. It was as though he were a child, but Hunk just knew it was because he had never had a steady relationship; the only serious partner he ever had was a twenty-two year old who just strung him along, using him as though he were an accessory.   
Lance had been so unbelievably in love with him, that he was heartbroken when he left him for a girl who was everything Lance wasn't; she had pale skin with red rosy cheeks, her hair was a faded turquoise which was a few shades lighter than her enchanting emerald-green eyes. The young boy couldn't handle it.  
He didn't leave his house for about three weeks. It didn't help that he was in high school at the time, and people in the year would spread rumors about him dating someone much older and then being suddenly dropped - which made him the laughing stock for reasons other than his hilarious comments and jokes in class (which he eventually stopped doing once everyone started to hate him). That was when Hunk and Lance grew extremely close, and decided to stay together for University. The two cared a lot for each other, and always had each other's backs when things got rough. Hunk was one of the only people Lance would open up to about anything, which is why they were so relaxed around each other and almost never had fights even though they spent so much time together.

When they all began to head back to their dorms, a couple of them were all still buzzing from a great night - so Lance, Keith and Hunk headed to the campus bar as the others went to bed. However, the night was cut short after five minutes of entering the bar.

All Keith remembered was going to order drinks, a fist connecting with his jaw and Lance shouting as he fell to the floor, blacking out instantly.


	3. Chapter 3

"What the fuck, man!?" Lance shouted, grabbing the boy roughly by his shoulders. He had recognised him instantly, as he was one of his teammates. Rolo. He was always being problematic, starting fights then sitting back and watching the chaos unfold - but Lance had never seen him actually hurt someone. Let alone a friend of his. Rolo's eyebrows were knotted in anger much like Lance's, yet he showed no intention to hurt anyone other than the boy laying on the floor by Hunk's feet. Lance didn't even know that Keith knew Rolo, let alone have some kind of rivalry with him - but that's when it clicked. 

They had found Keith alone in his room, shortly after last period, asleep with tears rolling down his cheeks. Something must have happened between the two. 

"That faggot got what he deserved!" Rolo shot back, leaving Lance lost for words. He never pinned Rolo down to be a homophobe, despite him being such an asshole. It was just uncommon to see such hatred in such a peaceful area, especially in University. His grip on the boy's shirt grew tighter before he shoved him backwards, making him hit the table behind him and spilling people's drinks. There was already a crowd, and since the bar attendants were also students, they weren't much help. Lance turned back to his friends, checking if Keith was alright. The other boy sat on the floor, after quickly gaining consciousness. A deep red color had spread from his jaw all the way up his cheek - it looked as though it were already bruising. Blood had began oozing from his lip, which had been cut, and his nose as well. Keith was holding his wrist over his face, trying to wipe away the blood, whilst Hunk had gone to the kitchen to get ice and a rag to clear him up. 

Lance felt anger explode in his chest, twisting his insides and making his muscles tense. His hands were balled into fists at his sides, as though he were ready to punch someone; yet, he knew he wasn't going to. Fighting with a teammate could mean getting kicked off the team, plus it would just make an unnecessary rivalry between the two - and he didn't want to have to put up with that for the next few years. He turned on his heel, taking a deep breathe before replying, not even looking at Rolo.

"If you keep on living with such an ignorant mind in an accepting society like ours, you'll never get very far. Grow up. That's what we're all here to do, right asshole? We're adults now, not high schoolers who tease each other for being different. This is the real world, not some fantasy where you're more important than everyone else." He took a step away, before pausing. "If you lay another hand on my friend again, you will regret it." - That was the second time that day Rolo had his ass handed to him. This time he made a mental note to just avoid Lance and his crew for good.

Keith sat there, mouth open (despite the pain) in shock, and somewhat in awe. Despite feeling stupid for letting a guy get a punch at him even though he was probably better at fighting than him, he was happy that Lance stepped in. It showed the side of Lance which he much preferred; his compassionate, caring side. The side where he forgot to hide himself under a layer of fake confidence and a dumb-cocky act. It was the side of him that had made Keith actually realise he wasn't that bad after all, the side that made Keith's insides churn and chest ache. He admired Lance, that was not something he would ever deny, yet he hadn't yet registered that maybe there was something more. Despite only knowing him for a few weeks, Keith had found himself intrigued by the boy with the enticing blue eyes and the cocky smile. 

Keith didn't say a word as Lance crouched down next to him, looking at him with a face drenched in concern. Hunk suddenly appeared beside them, holding a pack of ice-cold peas and a few pieces of toilet paper. By this point, Keith's (Lance's) shirt had blood dripping down the front of it, as did Keith's face. The boy's nose was no longer oozing with blood so it was much easier to clean up the blood, however, his lip was cut pretty bad after one of Rolo's rings had caught it as his fist connected with his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes widened in horror and realisation as he was about to speak but tasted a metallic flavour in his mouth.

One of his teeth was missing.

He looked down to see the tooth laying near his feet and groaned loudly. He covered his mouth with his hands hastily, Lance and Hunk following his train of sight. Keith quickly picked up the tooth, placed the bag of peas over his swollen jaw/lip and ran out of the bar. Not listening as Lance called out to him. He was not looking forward to seeing how he looked in the morning. 

Eventually, the two boys gave up on running after Keith, and assumed he was heading back to his room for the night. Keith lay in bed, his whole face felt numb from the cold food which he had placed on it earlier and he could feel the gap in between his teeth with his tongue. He didn't dare look in the mirror, deciding he would see if he looked any better in the morning. It truly was wishful thinking, but there was still a small drop of hope that it wasn't as bad as it felt.

 

Keith had never been more wrong.

He had almost forgotten about the previous night's incident until he walked into the bathroom as he was about to shower, taking a glimpse at his reflection. His jaw was a deep purple colour with patches of red and yellow scattered within the main bruise. The swelling had gone down on his lip, yet it remained a dark red colour around the cut. Of course, as he opened his mouth, he was confronted with the sight of a massive gap in the front of his teeth. It wasn't just any tooth he had lost, but one of his front two. 

"Thit." He breathed out, eyes widening when he heard his pronunciation. Just when he thought the situation couldn't get much worse, he realised that since his front tooth was gone, he had a lisp. It wasn't a very subtle one, either. He grabbed the tooth from the counter next to the sink and went to his mini fridge (he had bought it along with some other things for his room) and pulled out a bottle of milk. He knew that when you lost an adult tooth you should keep it in milk - he thanked the lord he spent a lot of his life reading useless books. He grabbed a glass, poured the milk in and gently placed his tooth in as well. He hastily looked away from the sight and jumped in the shower, wincing as the warm water hit his bruised face. He truly was in a dreadful state, and was not excited for first period; the one in which he sat next to Lance. As he got ready, he made sure to pull on a beanie (in order to push his bangs over his face more, rather than them sticking out like they usually did) and a hoodie (so he could cover his face with his oversized sleeves if he felt self conscious) - despite the weather still being slightly warm. He swung his bag onto his back and headed out of Altea, making sure to avoid each person he knew. Luckily, he arrived to the hall before Lance and sat down in their usual seats, pulling out his books and a pen before resting his chin in his palm - conveniently covering his bruises. Around five minutes later, the other boy arrived, mimicking his actions as he pulled out his work. Usually, they didn't talk much during lesson time, apart from the odd comment and exchanged glances; but Keith knew Lance would want to know how he felt, and was dreading the moment when he realised he had a fucking lisp.

Surprisingly enough, Lance didn't say a word throughout the whole hour and Keith was mentally thanking the lord as he walked away from the building. He immediately took it back as he heard footsteps run up behind him before a familiar face appeared in the right hand corner of his eye. Lance studied Keith's bruises before speaking.

"Shit dude, do you still hurt? I didn't think you would be in today and I was gonna come and drop by Altea later to see you." He said, walking next to Keith. They both had a free period, and usually they spent it at the coffee shop together - it had completely slipped Keith's mind.

"I'm okay." He said, pretending to itch his nose in order to cover his mouth as he spoke, he could feel Lance's gaze burning into the side of his head.

"Are you sure? You look pretty rough, maybe I should walk you back to your room? Jeez man, I can go speak to your teachers if you want?" Lance questioned, hardly giving Keith a chance to answer. "I can't believe Rolo did that to you, I mean, what did you even do to piss him off? I mean, I know you didn't deserve a punch to the face but you must have done something quite massive to get him like that, you know? God, I can't stop looking at you right now, you look so bad dude, you need to go back to your dorm! C'mon let's go." Lance grabbed Keith's arm and began dragging him away from the coffee shop which they had only just arrived at. Keith eventually snapped, not caring if Lance saw his teeth.

"Fucking hell Lanth, I'm thine! I jutht have fucked up teeth now and I need to get them thixed!" He turned to the other boy, gesturing to his front teeth. Lance looked sympathetic for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"Holy fuck man, I can't believe this!" He cried, doubling over and clutching his stomach as he laughed uncontrollably. For a moment Keith was mad, but saw how genuine the other boy's smile was and let himself mirror the action; soon both of them stood there laughing in the middle of campus, the people walking past shrugging their shoulders in confusion. Lance couldn't help but notice how gorgeous Keith looked whilst he laughed; his messy hair shaking as his shoulders heaved up and down each time he took a breath, his eyes watering as they were squeezed tightly together and, what Lance noticed most of all, was his smile. His nose was scrunched up as laughter erupted from his mouth - the gap from where his front tooth had been was on show, yet he was no longer trying to cover it up as he laughed along. He looked so relaxed as he stood next to the boy, and Lance couldn't ignore the way the warm sun shone on his tinted red cheeks or the way it reflected off his iris'. 

"I'll get it thixed thoon, I'm gonna get an appointment online later." Keith said as the laughter died down.

"God, you sound so cute like that." Lance said, barely noticing the words slip out of his mouth. He only registered what he had said as a red tiny glowed on Keith's cheeks, a smile on his face.

"Fuck oth." He laughed, gesturing Lance to follow him back to the coffee shop. Lance sighed as he realised Keith had taken it as a joke. Despite Keith playing along, inside he could hear his brain screaming in confusion. He wasn't used to /that/ kind of affection, even if it had just been banter. He was rarely complimented and had grown up with very little praise, as he avoided talking to his foster parents about his achievements - so whenever someone said something to praise him in any way, he wouldn't know how to respond. 

They sat down at the table by the window with their usual orders; black coffee for Keith and a cinnamon latte with whipped cream and caramel sauce for Lance. Keith realised how their drinks somewhat mirrored their personalities. Lance's was interesting, different ingredients combined in order to make a complex result which oozed with flavour and left your mouth sweet and your insides warm and relaxed. Whilst Keith's tasted bitter and consisted of few ingredients - none of which making him interesting or likeable, ultimately he was just sour with very few people liking him. 

On the other hand, that's the complete opposite of what Lance thought. When he compared Keith to his drink, he concluded he was similar for different reasons. Keith, much like black coffee, was difficult to approach at first - his poor social skills (sour taste) put people off, however, once you got to know him you start craving his attention - finding yourself comforted by his presence and enjoying spending time with him. It was hardly a lie to say he was not very popular, yet the people who liked him held him very close to them. Keith just wasn't aware of that. A small smile spread along Lance's lips as he sipped his own drink, proud of the black-coffee metaphors which were running around his brain. 

"What are you thmiling at?" Keith asked, causing Lance to hold back a snicker at his mispronunciation of the word 'smiling'. 

"Nothing, just thinking about some stuff." Keith raised an eyebrow. "Like how stupid you sound when you try to talk normally." Lance giggled, leaving Keith with a scowl on his face (which was tinted with a mixture of embarrassment and amusement). "I can't wait to see other's reactions." Keith's eyes widened as he realised he was going to be stuck with a lisp and lacking one of his front teeth for a while - mainly due to the fact that the dentist's traditionally took weeks to sort out appointments. Keith groaned and covered his face with his hands.

"I can't believe I have to deal with a thtupid lithp!" Keith whined, leaving Lance snickering. "I'm gonna end up thounding like you if I complain too much, fuck." Lance gasped, clutching a hand to his chest and threw his head back dramatically. 'Not again', Keith thought.

"How /dare/ you, Keith! I don't whine, I simply state how I'm feeling and what I want! A man like me does not complain, he simply tells the world how he feels at that exact moment!" Keith buried his face in his hands in order to hide his laughter, not wanting to give Lance the satisfaction of seeing him laugh at his performance. The coffee-shop staff had already become accustomed to the way Lance liked to be the centre of attention and they knew how embarrassed Keith felt (he was a regular there, so he had made friends with a few of the workers - some of them were also taking the same courses as him) - which is exactly why one of them walked over to the 'scene' with a black-coffee in hand.

"Hey Keith, this one's on the house." The worker said, placing the coffee on the table before leaning close to the boy. "Try not to murder him, yeah?" Keith laughed and nodded.

"Thank you, Lou." Keith said, now with two cups of black-coffee sitting in front of him. Lance just watched the employee walk away, his mouth gaping open.

"Why do you get free drinks!?" He said, looking truly astonished.

"They feel thorry for me becauthe I have to put up with you." Keith sighed, gulping down the remains of his first cup.

"I'm truly offended." Lance gasped, once again, pouting and crossing his arms over his chest like a child. Keith would've laughed if he didn't have a mouthful of sour coffee in his mouth at the time. Instead he just shook his head, as though he were a disappointed parent - although, he considered, hanging out with Lance was extremely similar to hanging out with an immature child, so the situation wasn't that different. Keith had found himself constantly wearing a smug smile around Lance, and he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was due to the fact the guy was a total loser who happened to crack jokes that never failed to amuse at every opportunity, or maybe it was his positive energy which he seemed to pass along to every person within a ten meter radius. Whatever it was, Keith enjoyed it.

After that day, the coffee-shop meetup became an almost daily occurrence, and after a week or so Lance wasn't the only one who had befriended the employees. There were four main servers who worked on the days which they went together; Lou, Shae, Haggar (they didn't know the elderly woman's real name, but the rest of the workers called her 'Haggar' so they went with that) and Sam. Each of them knew the two boys' regular orders and didn't even bother asking them when they wondered in and took a seat. Lance was still the only one in the group, after a week had passed since the 'incident', who knew about Keith's newfound lisp. Keith had avoided Hunk as if he were a wildfire and had successfully managed to keep his mouth shut in class rather than losing his temper and snapping at someone (which would most likely result in him losing another tooth - he had learnt his lesson). That was until they all met up in order to discuss the plans that they had made to go to a music festival in England.

They had recently informed Keith that every year they all saved up to go to England together and do some sort of crazy-ass activity for the week they were out there. After hearing that Lance had never been to a festival, they decided on going to one. Luckily, Shiro had gone to Reading Festival (where they had decided to go) during his first year of Uni with a few of his mates - he knew how all of it worked and how to get there from the airport and such. Keith was extremely surprised to be invited on the holiday, the rest of them even apologised for forgetting to tell him to start saving enough money to go (but he already had enough from his foster-parents, and he doubted that they would stop him from going). They had all decided to meet up at the usual bar that night in order to discuss flights and such - Keith knew he needed to sort out his teeth before the festival, and so he rung the dentist on the day of the meetup when he and Lance were still in the coffee-shop. 

"Hello? Yeah, I need to get a tooth repothitioned." Keith stumbled over the long word, causing Lance to let out a quiet chuckle - Keith glared at him before continuing to talk. "Yeah, I kept it thafe. Yeah, I did... My name ith Keith Kogane. Yeah, okay, i'll thee you then. I will. Bye." Keith hung up, Lance was staring at him expectantly.

"So?" Lance questioned.

"I'm going in next week to get it thorted." Keith continued. "They have to put my tooth back in so they can re-implant it or thomething."

"Re-implant it? I didn't even know that was possible!" Lance said, looking dumbfounded.

"Apparently it ith." Keith shrugged. There was a comfortable silence both of them sipped their drinks, which was suddenly disturbed by the ringing of Lance's phone.

"Hey man." Lance smiled upon looking at the screen and pulling it up to his ear. "Yeah i'm with Keith... He's doing alright, but dude you will not believe it! His front tooth fell out man, he has a fucking lisp!" Keith shot daggers at Lance, and the other boy just returned a sheepish smile. "Yeah... See you tonight, bye."

"I can't believe I have to fathe everyone with a lithp, god damn it." Keith covered his face with his hands.

"C'mon dude, it's not too bad..." Keith parted his fingers to stare at Lance through his hands. "Okay, maybe it's kinda bad but we're all friends here! At least it will be fixed by the festival in a few weeks!"

"But even then I have to wear a thplint or thomething for a few weeks!" 

"A splint? I thought they were for broken arms and shit?"

"Apparently you can have them for your teeth. I think they kinda look like brathes but they're only on a few of your teeth? I dunno." Lance contemplates for a moment before shrugging and looking at the time on his phone.

"Shit dude! We have like five minutes to get to third period, see you later!" Lance stood up and grabbed his bag, smiling and waving at the other boy before heading to his next period (which was Astronomy). Keith didn't get a chance to say goodbye as he sprinted out of the coffee shop, and was left somewhat dazed at the sudden change of events. He sat there for a moment before swinging his bag over his shoulder, heading to his last lesson of the day (it was one of the shortest days on his timetable) - which was English Language. 

 

The evening came around quickly, and before he knew it Keith was sitting at the now familiar bar along with Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, Allura and Lance. At first they had teased Keith about his lisp, but it soon died down as they had more important matters to discuss. Shiro came back with a tray full of drinks and settled them down on the table before starting to speak, still standing.

"Okay, so has everyone got enough money to buy - first of all the plain tickets." He paused and everyone nodded eagerly, he then continued, pausing each time he finished each question. "The weekend tickets for the festival? The tents? Food? Okay, and finally the alcohol?" The final question causing everyone to cheer whilst nodding their heads. "Nice, i'm impressed you guys managed to save up all the money! For all of us, in total it should cost around... Ten thousand dollars, which is roughly seven thousand five hundred pounds. Thats like, one thousand and a bit each - is that cool?" Everyone nodded their heads and a look of relief spread across Shiro's face. "Good, because I've already booked the flights and bought weekend tickets to the festival for all of us."

"No way man! Shiro you're the best!" Hunk said, everyone nodding in agreement with looks of awe and disbelief plastered on their faces.

"...But this means you all owe me, so pay up." Everyone dived in their bags, dishing out their wallets and putting their money in the middle of the table. Shiro looked extremely pleased as he picked up a total of six thousand dollars from the table, stuffing them into his bag before finally sitting down and taking a sip of his drink. Various conversations drifted through the night, and as Allura began telling a long winded story about what had happened on campus earlier in the week, Shiro turned to Keith and began talking to him quietly.

"How did you save up that money so fast?" He asked, tilting his head in a confused manner. "The other's have been saving for months."

"My... Guardianth aren't used to me really having many, you know, friendth, tho they were just happy that I have you guyth and gave me the money." Keith could feel embarrassment lingering in the form of the red on his cheeks, he had just admitted how he had been a complete loner throughout his whole life to a guy who had only known him for a few weeks. "And they don't really have any problemth with money, if you know what I mean." He mumbled. Shiro just nodded knowingly before turning back to the rest of the group, ignoring how embarrassed the other boy had looked. What surprised him was that Keith hadn't said parents, but guardians instead. Shiro knew he wasn't in the place to ask, so decided on ending the conversation rather than push any further. Maybe Keith just didn't like his parents? Maybe he ran away from home? Or maybe they're... Shiro debated, glancing at Keith as he thought of the last possibility. The other boy didn't look as though he had some kind of tragic backstory, but then again, he did notice how he had winced and avoided being a part of the conversation as they began talking about how they were missing their families. A small frown made it's way onto Shiro's face as he faced away from Keith. Making a mental note to make sure the conversation changed quickly.

 

After that night, the week went relatively quickly - Keith was counting down the days until he got his teeth fixed, and soon enough, the day had come. He walked out of the front gates (already having informed the university that he would be absent for the day) and walked to the dentists. It was only around a mile away from the school, which he was very thankful for, so it took him around fifteen minutes to get there. After talking to the man at the front desk, he sat down in the waiting room - apparently his appointment was going to start in just under twenty minutes, and would take an hour or so to finish. 

Twenty minutes wasn't too long, Keith concluded. That was before a familiar figure sat down opposite him. The person who was responsible for him being in the situation in which he was in. Keith glared at the other boy, who looked somewhat awkward yet apologetic. He cleared his throat and began to talk.

"Lance told me you would be here today, and told me to apologize - So here I am." Keith raised his eyebrows, urging Rolo to continue. "I'm sorry for punching you dude, just don't roast my ass in front of class again and we should be alright." He concluded, his body language basically told Keith that he was reluctant to be there, yet his face showed he was being genuine.

"Itth fine, I probably would've punched me too." Rolo let out a chuckle, shaking his head.

"Man, Lance wasn't lying when he said you had a bad lisp." Keith groaned. "Sorry about that too, I know this wont cover all of it but, I hope this counts as me making up for it?" Rolo stood up, handing the shorter boy fifty dollars. The appointment was only costing around seventy, so it made up for most of it.

"Thank you." Keith said, Rolo gave him a slight wave as he walked out. Huh, he isn't that bad after all, Keith concluded, despite him being an ignorant asshole sometimes he could deal with him. Suddenly, his name was called out by a gravelly voice. A very tall woman with dusty brown hair stood by the door of a room which was a few feet down the main corridor. She was smiling brightly as he walked over and followed her into the room. 

The whole procedure was a lot more painful than Keith anticipated, and when he walked out his whole mouth was numb and he had a small wire which stretched along four of his teeth - it was held in place by some strange type of glue which tasted oddly sour. He could feel where they had re-inserted his tooth and it felt strange as he had somewhat gotten used to having a gap at the front of his mouth. However, he was happy that the tooth felt stable and that he could finally talk properly. 

"Keeeeeith! Is your tooth fixed?" Lance shouted down the phone, eager to see if his friend still had a lisp.

"Pretty much, I have to get it checked on every week until we go to England and then I have to wear some kind of mouth guard thing every night for about seven months." 

"Nice! Your lisp is totally gone and I can understand what you're saying!" Lance giggled, leaving Keith rolling his eyes despite being alone. He was heading back to his dorm for the day to relax. 

"Yeah, but my teeth hurt like hell and I'm pretty sure I can't drink or anything because it's completely numb. Talking is difficult."

"So that's why you sound so slurred, I totally thought that you had gone drinking after your appointment or something, I was prepared to be offended that you didn't invite me."

"Why the fuck would I even do that?" Keith said, trying to contain his laughter but completely failing. Lance was still in shock after the other boy had stopped laughing - he could imagine the rare, genuine smile that was probably on Keith's face and he found himself smiling at the thought. He enjoyed making the other boy laugh, as he felt so blessed whenever he got to hear the melodic sound of his laughter and got to see the way his bangs fell over his face as his shoulders shook, and he got to see the wide smile plastered on his face which was usually replaced by a smirk or a scowl. 

"Lance?" Keith questioned, upon not hearing the other boy reply. Lance snapped out of it and continued walking - he was in the main town on his way to meet the rest of the basketball team. They had recently won a tournament (it wasn't a very big one, yet it was still a cause for a celebratory night out) and had decided to go drinking at a nightclub. It was only around two o'clock, but they had all decided to meet for lunch beforehand. 

"Yeah, sorry I just... I'm in town and I'm quite distracted, I'll see you tomorrow for coffee, yeah?"

"Okay, see you then." Keith said, not bothering to question Lance's hesitant tone of voice and shrugging it off instead as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. When he got back to his room, he flung his bag onto the chair by his desk and flopped down carelessly on his bed, letting out a long sigh. He absentmindedly closed his eyes, and fell asleep almost instantly - not aware of how tiring the day had been.

 

Keith woke up at two in the following morning, groaning as he realised he had slept through the day. He decided he might as well be productive and flicked on his light and began flicking through the notes of the previous week - adding to them here and there and writing down reminders to track down some of his classmates and asking to borrow theirs in order to catch up on the lectures which he had missed. It was an hour or so later when a loud bang could be heard echoing through his room. At first, Keith got into a defensive stance as he walked over to the door - being prepared to deal with anything - but he soon relaxed as he heard a familiar voice.

"Hunk!? Open up!" Keith sighed, realising the other boy must've gotten their rooms mixed up. Lance practically fell onto Keith as the door swung open. He was obviously drunk.

His cheeks were flushed a dark pink and his hair was ruffled all over the place. His shirt had various stains on them (Keith didn't want to know where any of them had come from), his trousers had holes in the knees (newly made ones) which revealed bruises beneath the rips and finally, he was missing a shoe. Lance had a warm smile on his face as he fell into Keith's arms. Keith could feel the other boy's warmth radiating through his clothes as he clung on tight to the shorter boy's body. 

"Why am I always helping you when you're in situations like these." Keith sighed, speaking to himself more than anything. He led the drunken boy over to the bed, laying him down as he began giggling.

Keith mentally prepared himself for what was surely going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cool, cool, cool
> 
> \- I can't wait to write the festival chapter because I went to the festival recently and I still remember it well !! I've got it all planned out and it's gonne be great ;)
> 
> p.s. I spent a long time working out how much it would cost for them,, they're taking the cheapest fights possible and stuff so it isn't tooooo expensive  
> p.s.s. I also had to research loads of stuff to do with dentists and splints on teeth and stuff, some of the images of splints on messed up teeth on google have scarred me for life,, i hope u are happy that i'm taking risks whilst writing this


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 will be out by the end of February, i'm having a bit of a block right now but we will pull through it in the name of this fic!!!!

I was away over winter break so I had no way of writing, but i'm working real hard on this in between homework and stuff so it's all good

**Author's Note:**

> I started this before anything was confirmed about where any of them were from, sorry if it's inaccurate because I don't want to go back and change it now!!
> 
> \- VERY slow updates, it's exam season


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